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11 May 2009 : Column 517W—continued
Rented Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average length of tenure of (a) registered social landlord and (b) local authority tenant was in each of the last five years. [274838]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 7 May 2009, Official Report, column 399W.
Repossession Orders
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 29 April 2009, Official Report, column 1382W, on repossession orders, when she expects her Department to be in possession of the data for 2008-09. [273407]
Mr. Iain Wright: The continuous recording of lettings (CORE) for 2008-09 is collected on behalf of Communities and Local Government by the Centre for Housing Research at the University of St Andrews. Delivery of final datasets to the Department is expected in August.
Social Rented Housing
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many registered social landlord properties were sold to (a) tenants and (b) non-tenants in each of the last five years. [273405]
Mr. Iain Wright: The following table shows the number of registered social landlord properties sold from 2003-04 to 2007-08 in England, according to whether they were sold to tenants or non-tenants.
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | |
| Source: Homes and Communities Agency investment management system (IMS), and regulatory and statistical returns (RSR) to the Tenant Services Authority (TSA). | |||||
Sales to tenants include sales through Right to Buy, Right to Acquire, Voluntary Purchase Grant, and Social HomeBuy. Sales to non-tenants include sales through Open Market HomeBuy and New Build HomeBuy. We have treated sales to tenants as where the tenant is currently occupying the property they are purchasing.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department and its agencies have provided to local authorities on conditions of tenancy applicable to social tenants running businesses from their homes. [273721]
Mr. Iain Wright: I am not aware that the Department have provided any such guidance.
Home Department
Alcoholic Drinks: Young People
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests for underage drinking there were in Tamworth constituency in each of the last five years. [274372]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, covering categories such as violence against the person and robbery. It is not possible to identify the number of arrests made for underage drinking from the data on arrests reported to the Home Office.
Furthermore, the data on arrests held by the Home Office are reported at police force area level only therefore information on arrests in the Tamworth constituency are not available.
Mr. Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were prosecuted for supplying alcohol to persons under the age of 18 years in Tamworth constituency in each of the last five years. [274373]
Mr. Alan Campbell: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3 February 2009, Official Report, column 1027W.
Court proceedings data collected centrally are available at police force area level only; therefore data for Tamworth constituency cannot be supplied.
Antisocial Behaviour Orders
Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects data collected on the number of anti-social behaviour orders issued and breached after 31 December 2006 to be available. [272698]
Mr. Alan Campbell: The data on antisocial behaviour order (ASBO) is based on information supplied to the Home Office by courts. This information is compiled by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for the Home Office.
ASBO data undergo extensive checking and a rigorous quality assurance process to verify the accuracy and completeness of the data they contain. Since December 2006 ASBO data have been published together with data on all the antisocial behaviour tools and powers collected from crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) in an annual survey. The Government want to ensure that members of the public can find out easily how their local agencies are tackling antisocial behaviour.
ASBO data for 2007 and the latest information on the use of tools and powers will be published shortly.
Borders: Personal Records
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which passport or passports of persons with dual nationality will be registered on the e-Borders database. [270110]
Jacqui Smith: The capability to identify passengers travelling on different passports is something that will be developed incrementally within e-Borders.
As the system develops, the identification of passengers travelling on different passports will become easier to reconcile. Travel histories stored in the system will be person-centric, rather than travel document-centric and the use of more than one passport by an individual will be identified at the primary arrivals control, and captured within the system.
Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the oral answer of 23 March 2009, Official Report, column 16 and to the answer of 29 April 2009, Official Report, column 1349W, borders: personal records where the information referred to in the answer is located on her Department’s website; what categories of information on travellers and passengers will be collected for the purposes of the e-borders programme when the programme is fully operational; and whether the 10-year storing of information applies to all of these categories. [273683]
Mr. Woolas: Information on e-Borders can be found on the UK Border Agency website at the following web address
e-Borders will collect Travel Document Information (TDI) on all journeys to and from the United Kingdom. These data consist of the eight sections of biographical data which are contained in the machine readable zone (MRZ) of a passport, being: name, date of birth, nationality, gender, travel document type, state of issue, number and expiry date.
Carriers may be asked to provide reservation data (known as OPI or other passenger information) if this information has been collected in the normal course of their business. This information could include but is not limited to, date and place of reservation and ticket issue, method of payment and baggage details.
Borders: Security
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what investigations she has undertaken in respect of (a) terrorism and (b) organised crime in relation to travel between (i) the South Coast and the Isle of Wight, (ii) mainland Great Britain and British offshore islands other than the Isle of Wight, (iii) Great Britain and Northern Ireland and (iv) Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the last 12 months; and whether she plans to initiate a consultation on the use of the information-gathering powers under section 14 of the Police and Justice Act 2006. [268660]
Mr. Coaker: Criminal investigations across the UK are a matter for local chief officers of police, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency and other law enforcement agencies.
Section 14 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 gives the police the power, subject to commencement through secondary legislation, to require a carrier, on request, to capture passenger and crew identity and other service data on domestic routes.
The Government are considering the use of these powers on routes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland only. This is to strengthen counter-terrorism checks on international travellers who attempt to evade checks by travelling through the Republic of Ireland into or out of the UK. There are no plans to introduce these powers on other domestic UK routes, such as crossings to the Isle of Wight nor any other offshore islands.
The Government will consult fully on the detailed terms of any implementation legislation, including the forms of identity that would be needed, before the powers are introduced.
British Nationality
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the effect on community cohesion of the Government initiative to require migrants to undertake community work before obtaining British citizenship. [272444]
Mr. Woolas: The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill sets out provision for speeding up the journey to British citizenship and permanent residence for migrants who contribute to the community through active citizenship. It will not be a mandatory requirement for migrants to undertake active citizenship. Those who choose to undertake active citizenship can speed up their journey by two years.
A design group was set up in autumn 2008 including representatives from the voluntary sector and local government to advise on the most effective way to operate active citizenship in practice.
A document was made available to the House in March 2009 to illustrate the Government's emerging thinking on active citizenship. Further details will be provided to the House when available.
Andrew Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment she has made of recent representations made by the Strangers
into Citizens campaign in respect of migrant workers and others whose residency status in the UK is undetermined; and if she will make a statement; [273997]
(2) what assessment she has made of recent representations to her Department by the church leaders in respect of migrant workers and others whose residency status in the UK is undetermined; and if she will make a statement. [273998]
Mr. Woolas: Recent high-profile campaigns, such as ‘Strangers into Citizens’ (supported by the Mayor of London, the former Archbishop of Westminster and others), have brought the debate over a proposed amnesty for illegal immigrants and undocumented migrants into the public arena. However, the Government have ruled out an amnesty and this remains our position.
An amnesty would be unfair to those who are here legally; it would act as a pull factor for even more attempts at illegal immigration; and it would counter the achievements by the UK Border Agency to toughen up our border and immigration system.
Closed Circuit Television
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2009, Official Report, column 1773W, on closed circuit television (CCTV), how many of the 44 recommendations in the national CCTV strategy have been implemented. [264898]
Jacqui Smith: Following publication of the long-term National CCTV Strategy in October 2007, good progress has been made in moving towards implementing the 44 recommendations. The recommendations targeted action from the police and local authorities to work together to improve public safety. The National Policing Improvement Agency took over responsibility for the Strategy in spring 2008. A National CCTV Strategy Programme Board has been established and has delivered five of these recommendations. The recommendations that have been implemented as at April 2009 are:
Recommendation 3:The Home Office Scientific Development Branch and the British Security Industry Authority (BSIA) now have a seat on National and International standards bodies.
Recommendation 4: Publication of a revised Operational Requirements Manual on 31 March 2009, along with a new CCTV image quality test target, will help educate and inform purchasers and end users regarding critical issues such as image quality.
Recommendation 16: The BSIA’s new “Get Licensed” Booklet (published October 2008) means that all BSIA licensed operators should know how to use CCTV correctly and are vetted to the appropriate level.
Recommendation 24: New protocols mean that all police forces now have the capability of sharing Airwave telecommunications with local CCTV Managers and a significant number of police forces share intelligence with CCTV Control Centres. Such partnership working leads to the operation of public space CCTV providing best value to communities.
Recommendation 29: An evaluation of camera to archive network access and data archiving has led to a recommendation for the police and the wider Criminal Justice System to move towards the use of managed secure servers for the long-term storage and archiving of CCTV and other forms of digital evidence.
Since January 2009 the board has been reviewing the recommendations made in the Strategy. It is clear that, since the Strategy was written and published, some recommendations are either no longer appropriate or need reviewing. Therefore, in addition to the five already implemented, a further 12 will be implemented by the end of 2009 and an additional six by the end of 2010.
The remaining 21 recommendations are currently being reviewed to take account of comments and changes in technology since publication. Once that review is completed, I shall write to the hon. Member and let him know the outcome.
Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners
Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what procedures are in place for the regulation of forensic practitioners after the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners ceases to operate and before a successor organisation is appointed; and if she will make a statement; [273039]
(2) whether she received representations from the Forensic Science Regulator prior to the decision not to provide transition funding to the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if she will make a statement; [273040]
(3) what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if she will make a statement; [273041]
(4) what mechanisms are in place to ensure the continuity of regulation of individual forensic practitioners following the closure of the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if she will make a statement; [273042]
(5) on what date it was decided to cease funding the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners; and if she will make a statement. [273043]
Jacqui Smith: The Independent Forensic Science Regulator was appointed in February 2008 to regulate forensic science quality standards. He has published his “Review of the Options for the Accreditation of Forensic Practitioners” and “Quality Standards for the Providers of Forensic Science Services to the Criminal Justice System” and proposes to move to a more robust model of standards regulation that moves the focus from just forensic practitioners to include standards for organisations, practitioners and the science methods used. The forensic science laboratories are already accredited to testing international standards; accreditation that includes assessment of practitioner competence by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS). The accreditation option is available to all practitioners. Registration with the Council for the Registration of Forensic Practitioners was a voluntary process that left the majority of practitioners either choosing not to register or not able to register (front-line scientists in the laboratories who are covered by the UKAS accreditation could not register with the Council).
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